Living with IBD Without Cramping My Style! (Hate your guts, not your life!)

A Gluten-Free Beer Worth Drinking!

This tastes like a coffee stout – like a REAL beer, in other words!

It’s the holidays, and what is a celebration without a little alcohol? That being said, I realize a lot of us can’t consume alcohol for various reasons – maybe it interferes with our meds, maybe it aggravates our IBD, maybe we’re allergic, etc. Fortunately I’ve been able to consume some wine over the past few days without any adverse side effects, as my condition is seemingly continuing to improve. (And sorry, but for a wineaux, not drinking wine for four + months is literally crippling. No way was I going to sacrifice Christmas and New Year’s too!) Then today my husband discovered the above “Glutenberg Red Ale” and thought it was time we gave this whole gluten-free beer thing a try.

Not everyone with UC (or IBD) needs to go gluten-free. It’s my personal UC idiosyncrasy, and it is shared by non-IBD sufferers as well as Celiacs, etc. So, hopefully this review helps a broader spectrum of people than just those with this shitty disease. (Pardon my French.) Speaking of French, Glutenberg is brewed by Brasseurs Sans Gluten in Montreal, Canada. Their Red Ale was the winner of the Gold Award for the World Beer Cup 2012. It’s made with water, buckwheat, millet, molasses, chestnuts, candy syrup, quinoa, hops, yeast (details here: https://glutenberg.ca/usa/beers/red/). I was expecting something that tasted like, well…a yeasty diet soda. Something that couldn’t possibly compete with the type of beers I used to like to drink–hearty craft beers by the likes of Dogfish Head, CBC, Left Hand, Lagunitas, etc. Well, I was wrong. Mine and my husband’s consensus? This is a really decent beer. In his words, “it tastes like a coffee stout.” He put another in the fridge, and he’s quite picky when it comes to his beer.

The good news, Glutenberg also makes an American Pale Ale and a Blonde (which may be perfect for those of you lighter-beer drinkers). Looks like I’ll have the unfortunate task of having to taste-test those too. Sigh. The things I am willing to do for the greater good. 😉

Goodreads

Live A Little

“Your body is not a temple, it's an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.” - Anthony Bourdain

Never Diet

“Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the 'Titanic' who waved off the dessert cart.” - Erma Bombeck

Mark Twain had IBD and liked it?

“Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.” - Mark Twain

Eat, Read, Try Not to Think About Food

“Eating and reading are two pleasures that combine admirably.”
— C.S. Lewis. (We're going to have to amend that to "Reading is a pleasure that combines admirably with trying not to think about how unpleasantly hungry you are." - MyGutsForGarters.)